Is it slavery if you’re paying the maid/servant for the work they do for you?
CNN has this abolish slavery campaign going on right now and apparently there’s about 10 million slaves in the world at present. So I was just wondering what exactly do we understand by the term “slave” these days?
A war prisoner? A victim of human trafficking forced into labour? A maid/servant, paid or unpaid?
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^^ GS moderatorship 
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Is it slavery if you're paying the maid/servant for the work they do for you?
CNN has this abolish slavery campaign going on right now and apparently there's about 10 million slaves in the world at present. So I was just wondering what exactly do we understand by the term "slave" these days?
A war prisoner? A victim of human trafficking forced into labour? A maid/servant, paid or unpaid?
A slave is any person who is forced to perform a task without compensation or with nominal compensation. Like many people trafficked into the middle east. For example the infamous child camel jockeys.
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Naabigh haww :D We're volunteers not slaves.
IceSoul, that makes sense.
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To me a slave is someone who has their basic natural rights taken away from them. From the right to proper food & shelter (monetary compensation), to having the freedom to express their opinion.
Though maids/ servants are paid in Pakistan, there is a definite lack of human decency in some homes. In my eyes they're just 2 steps above actual slaves. I know many Pakistani households treat their servants well. However, the overall mentality is that servants do not need respect, a decent income ( everyone tries to pay the least possible, knowing these people have many family members to support), and proper food (as a lower class they should just eat the left overs of the home in which they work).
This idea of human indecency has transitioned into normality. Which is pretty close to slavery.
There are maids in the Western world too, however, they're threat well, with respect ( which you should give to any human).
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*hiring a maid is NOT a slavery as you pay for the work the do...it's slavery only when you do NOT pay for the work someone performs without his/her willingness. if someone promises to pay later or in kind and if the person agrees to it then it's NOT slavery. *
**
the element of forced labour for NO money or substantially low wages is defo a slavery. **
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Forced labor without proper compensation is slavery. If someone is free to go and find a better paying job then it is not slavery.
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I think the reason BBQ raised the notion of maids and servants is because to some extent they really don't have the choice of finding a better job or another job for that matter. And as an employer of those servants, you also know that the chances of them finding a better job are slim. This leads to a lot of misuse and a slavery-like feel of the servants.
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Is it slavery if you're paying the maid/servant for the work they do for you?
It's exploitation, not slavery.
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I think the reason BBQ raised the notion of maids and servants is because to some extent** they really don't have the choice of finding a better job** or another job for that matter. And as an employer of those servants, you also know that the chances of them finding a better job are slim. This leads to a lot of misuse and a slavery-like feel of the servants.
that's NOT the definition of slavery. if a person is paid adequately and reasonably in exchange for the work they do is NOT slavery...it's their choise to do the job or move on...their inability to find another job is NOT the employer's fault. also, there is NO compulsion in what they do. they may go to school/college to upgrade themselves.
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A slave is one........who is not free to leave the 'work'/'job'.......as per my understanding....
In pakistan.......the more relevant example of slavery is the Labor at Brick Kilns (Bhatta) and also the farming labor...........those people have debts (so to say) amounting thousands of rupees......and if they want to change the 'employer'.......the new employer pays off the debt to the former employer...and the labor now works for that guy........
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**Lack of freedom to choose the services or refuse to provide services is slavery.
**All others are not really part of slavery.
One can even pay double the amount or give lavish life style to the person. That person will still be a slave if not allowed to leave or refuse the service.
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Is it slavery if you're paying the maid/servant for the work they do for you?
CNN has this abolish slavery campaign going on right now and apparently there's about 10 million slaves in the world at present. So I was just wondering what exactly do we understand by the term "slave" these days?
A war prisoner? A victim of human trafficking forced into labour? A maid/servant, paid or unpaid?
A mazloom husband?
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It's exploitation, not slavery.
Exploitation, when carried to an extrem such that the exploited has to work 80 plus hours per week and still not make enough to have the minimum necessities - may not meet the strcitest definition of slavery.....
I commend the OP on raising this vey important issue